Intruder
by karent79
Summary: Teru is home alone when the lights go out. Will she be okay and what's causing the strange sounds she's hearing?


It was a dark stormy night and Teru was sitting on her sofa watching one of her favorite scary movies. Tonight she was all alone but she'd convinced herself that she'd be able to watch it without becoming frightened. Normally, Riko would be sitting right beside her, watching it too, but she was off on another of her business trips and wouldn't be home for at least another couple of days.

'I don't know why she tries to hide what she's really doing.'

Teru had finally figured out after a while that Riko's 'business trips' were really connected with the search for Kurosaki.

'She's still trying to protect me after all this time', Teru mused.

She remembered back to the time, right after Kurosaki first left, when Riko and the others had tried to explain his actions and connection to her brother, Souchirou, and 'Jack Frost'. At the time it had been too much for her to handle even though she tried to put up a brave face for everyone.

'How could they tell how upset I was? Am I that easy to read?'

Obviously, Riko knew how hard it was for Teru to deal with his abandonment of her. The first couple nights after he left, when Teru woke up in tears, she'd had always been there to comfort her. She'd tried to help with Teru's upset but it had gradually lessened as time went on.

'She realized that I just needed time, I guess.'

She tried to bring her attention back to the movie, but her thoughts kept wondering back to the last time she'd seen Kurosaki. She wondered what he was doing now and if he was okay wherever he was at.

'Is he okay? Is he ever going to come home to me', she quickly corrected herself,'er, us?'

Laying her head on the armrest, she forced her attention back to the television screen. She noticed that it was coming up to the scariest part of the movie, the part where she always shut her eyes tightly, trying to block out the images. Closing her eyes tightly, she reopened them when she heard the almost inaudible clicking reverberating throughout the apartment.

"What's making that sound?"

The lights overhead started flickering and then all of a sudden everything went dark. She screeched like a banshee, before getting herself back under control, and remembered that there was a flashlight in one of the kitchen drawers.

"Now I just have to find the thing without breaking my neck", she decided aloud.

In the darkness, every sound echoed through the apartment, making them even more menacing. Fumbling around the obstacles that seemed to be everywhere and only bumping her knee once, she finally found her way to the kitchen. Feeling around everywhere, trying to avoid the obvious hazards that could be found, she felt a little relief when she reached the counter.

"Whew, made it. Now, which drawer was it in again?"

Speaking aloud, she almost missed the scraping at the front door. It sounded like someone was attempting to find the doorknob in the dark.

"I need to stop watching scary movies. I'm starting to hear noises."

She went back to her search, which wasn't as simple as she'd hoped it would be.

Hearing more sounds coming from the direction of the front door, the sound of a doorknob turning, she started to panic. She stopped voicing her thoughts out loud and backed toward the wall, sliding down toward the floor as soon as she touched it.

'I'm not hallucinating? What do I do?'

She felt her heart begin to race and the warm tears that were beginning to drip on her bare arms. Hugging herself tightly, she tried her hardest to control the fear that was fighting it's way to the surface. One question, a very obvious one, suddenly came to mind.

'Oh no, did I lock the door?'

That question was answered when she heard the door swing open and shut again almost in the same instant. She heard a low, pained grunt when the intruder hit against something in the living room. Was it the sofa or maybe even the end table? She estimated the amount of time it would take for them to find her hiding in the kitchen and the possible routes they would take. The answer didn't comfort her in the least because it didn't give Teru a very good chance of escaping without notice.

She heard the intruder coming closer and thought to herself, 'what are they looking for?'

Feeling a slight chill she realized that the intruder was now in the kitchen with her and any chance of escape was now nonexistent. She saw a little movement as they reached the counter and was now barely within arm's reach of where she was hiding. She watched in silence and realized that the person had found what they'd been searching for.

'A flashlight?'

Teru knew that this situation had gotten worse and she shivered when a beam of light appeared from the end of it. Knowing that they could find her any moment, she realized that she'd have a better chance if she could at least arm herself with something. She reached around and found a hard, heavy rectangular object just barely overhead.

'I gotta thank Riko for the cookbook if I make it out of here.'

Pulling it close to her side, she waited for the wandering beam to finally reach her and put her in plain view. Blinded momentarily when the beam hit her in the face, instinct took over and she swung the heavy book with all of her strength.

"Oooof."

Making contact with the intruder's leg and knocking him off balance, she made a run for the door. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done, even with the minimal light coming from the flashlight in the intruder's hand.

'I should have thought this out a bit more but this is my only chance. Gotta make this work.'

She'd just made it to the sofa when she heard her name yelled out.

"Teru, stop!"

Recognizing the voice, she stopped and almost flipped over the sofa. She felt more tears come to her eyes.

'That voice? I never thought I'd ever hear it again.'

"It's been a while, huh?"

It was hard to see clearly but she thought she could see a sad smile on his face and automatically reached out for it. He pulled her in his arms and she marveled at the feel of his warm cheek on the top of her head. The tears stopped and she'd remembered that he'd told her that he'd be there for her always. All the fear and upset that she'd felt in the past flew from her mind.

'He's really here!'

"Teru, I missed you", she heard whispered from above.

Smiling, she was afraid that the happiness that she was feeling right at this moment would bring tears back to her eyes. She fought to control it and prayed it wasn't just a dream.

The next morning, Riko walked into her apartment. She'd been worried about Teru all night. She'd heard about the storms and knew that they always brought back memories of Souchirou to his little sister. Teru was always so lifeless during bad weather, she was nothing like how she normally was and it was kind of unnerving to those people that loved her to see her in such a state.

"Teru, I'm home!"

All was quiet in the apartment. She headed for Teru's room and knocked a couple times before calling out.

"Teru, you still asleep?"

She didn't get a response and thought she'd just take a peek. Letting herself in, she had to do a double take when she Teru on the bed sleeping. That in itself wasn't a problem, but the fact was that she wasn't alone in it and Riko found herself finding fault with that.

'I'm going to kill that idiot!'

Kurosaki was leaning against the headboard of the bed with Teru curled up against him. She was holding on to his shirt, as if she was afraid to let go of him,but what Riko found amusing was that he was holding her protectively, almost as if he was afraid to let go of her too. She smiled and laughed a bit at the sight of the two together on the bed. There was nothing indecent about it but after all that happened, she had to give him what was coming to him.

'Time to welcome the idiot home.'


End file.
